fisher



(No Model.)

W. H. FISHER. AUTOMATIC RAILROAD SWITCH.

Patented Jan. 12, 1892.

2 Sheets-'Sheet 2.

W. H. FISHER.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD SWITCH.

Patented Jan. 12, 1892.

(No Model.)

@witnesses UNrTEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM HENRY FISHER, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALE TOBYRON GEORGE SEGOG, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD-SWITC H,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 466,977, dated January12, 1892.

Application tiled July 27,1891. Serial No. 400,865. (No model.)

To all whom it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HENRY FISH- ER,a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State ofMinnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in AutomaticRailroad-` Switches, of which the following is a specification.

The invention herein relates to improvements in switches for railroads,which are operated by the iianges of the wheels of the locomotive toshift the switch-rails, so as to bring them in line with the main trackand form a continuous straight track, or to shift the switch-rails fromthe main track, so as to bring them in line with the siding and thusform a continuous rail with the main track; and the objects of myimprovements are to render the switch more easily operated-that is, toprovide a construction, arrangement, and combination of lever devicesforming the switch connecting and operating mechanism whereby such levermechanism will be caused to act with an easy and certain movement by thegradual pushing action thereon of the fiange of one of the wheels of thelocomotive or cars. In this provision a novel, simple, and very compactand effective arrangement of levers is made to transmit with a veryshort gradual movement of the switch-actuating mechanism, given by theblow of the wheel-ange, the power of a compound leverage having a longbut comparatively quick movement for shifting the switch, and it is thiscompound leverage obtained in the way which I Will state thatconstitutes, in its connections with the switch and the switch-lock, theimprovement herein claimed, as I shall now describe, in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which Figure l gives the relation of therails of the main and of the side tracks, the switchrails thereof, andmy improved automatic switch-shifting device in the position it occupieswhen the switch-rails are set for the main line. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section taken through the switch-actuating device on theline a of Figi l. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section taken ontheline of Looking at Fig. l, themain-track rails are indicated by theordinal l, the rails of the siding by'2, and the rails of the switch by3,

which, it will be understood, are adapted to be moved at one end to actwith the main or with the siding rails, while at their other ends theyare permanently pivoted to form a continuation of the main-track railsand are connected between their ends by tie-bars and at 6o their movableends to the locking device by the pivotally-connected rod 4. Suitablechairs 5 are provided at the junction ot the fixed track-rails with themovable ends of the switch-rails. o

The device for automatically operating the switch is placed between theixed track-rails and consists of the following parts: A steel leverhaving the form of a horseshoe pivotally connected at its bend to thehead-block 7o or sill 7 at the junction of the xed and the switch railsand extending between the rails, with their straight sides S adjacentthereto, terminate in inward-curved ends D, so as to stand away from thefixed rails to receive the This horseshoe-lever 8o so as to raise thehorseshoe-lever on a level that will allow it to move over thebase-flanges and spike-heads of the rails. The form of thishorseshoe-lever in cross-section is that of the rail to give itstrength, and its ends are braced by one or more cross-bars l0. At its9o bend this lever has a circular base or disk Il, which is fitted intoa socket-seat l2, secured to the head-block or sill, and a bolt I3,passing through the disk and its seat, holds them together in thecircular seat and forms the bearing on which the lever is turned by theaction of the wheel-flanges on its straight sides. One of these bearingparts, preferably the disk, can be made in two partsL and be bolted tothe flange of the lever and the head of the center bolt can becountersunk at the under side of the seat and its upper end riv- IOOeted on the disk. rlhe bolts of the socket-seat may be secured in thesame manner and thus avoid the use of nuts, which are liable to becomeloose, and provide a free and solid bearing, which affords alargesurface and relieves the connecting-bolt from all strain and wear. Alever 14 is pivoted to one of the cross-bars of the horseshoe-lever andextends inward to near the pivot-bearing of the latter, its other endbeing pivoted on a track cross-tie at the ends of the horseshoe-lever bya casting 15, the pivot-pin of which, like the pivotpin in thecross-bar, is riveted At its inner end this lever let is connected toone of a pair of rods 15, which extend transversely under thehorseshoe-lever and the rails and are connected at their ends by chains16, which at thelever-connected end pass over a sprocket-pulley 17,mounted on the vertical side of the head-block or sill, and at theirother ends pass over a sprocket-pulley 18 on the crank-shaft 1) of alocking device at the side of the track. This locking device is mountedin a suitable housing, and its shaft has a crank 20, to which theswitch-connectin g rod 4 is attached, so that the chain-connected rodsare on one side of the head-block or sill and the switch-operating rodis on the otherside of said head-block. A lever 22 on this shaft servesto shift the switch by hand and to lock it, as l will presently state.

Now, looking at Fig. l, it will be seen that the horseshoe-lever has nodirect connection with the switch, and this is important to effect oneof the objects of myimprovement, which is to obtain a connection by thelever and its chain and sprocket-wheel connections with a lockingdevice, which not only locks the switch, but the horseshoe-lever, andthis, so far as I know and can find, is a new combination in a switchoperated by a horseshoelever. It is important, also, to observe that inthis combination the horseshoe-lever is arranged to receive at its endsthe action of the flanges of the wheels, which is to obtain theadvantage of shifting the horseshoe-lever with a gradual movement,because the sides of said horseshoe-lever being straight and parallelwith the rail against which it is set to be acted on it is caused toopen from said rail like a pair of shears as the iiange of the wheelruns between them, and thereby actuates the lever with a gradual easyand safe movement, as distinguished from a sudden movement of suchhorseshoe-lever if struck by the wheels of a Vtrain approaching thecurved or pivoted end of the horseshoe-lever, which would cause thelatter to have a sudden opening movement from the rails, andconsequently giving a sudden jerking movement to the switch, which wouldbe liable to break some of the connections either of the lever or of theswitch. In the new arrangement and combination of the levers and theirswitch connections which I have set out the gradual movement of thehorseshoe-lever is transmitted to the switch with certainty and safetythrough the long stroke of thelevcr revolving the switch-connected shaftthrough the chain and sprocket-wheels. This chainand-rod connection withthe lever is also important in the provision of turn-buckles in one orboth of the rods for adjusting them to take up any slack of the chain.

The action of the horseshoe-lever transmits motion to its pivoted lever,and it is the connection of the latter at its long end with the chainsthat gives the pulley of the locking device a half-revolution, and thusshifts the switch into connection with the side-track rails or with themain-track rails, according as the train may be running on one or theother track.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will beseen that the shaft of thehand-operatinglever is raised above the head-block to allow it and the crank to bedepressed belenT a horizontal line, so that neither can be thrown overby any strain applied to the switch-rails.

The device for locking the hand-operating lever is shown in Fig. L1, andconsists of a bar of cast-iron 24, pivoted to a stud 25 on one side ofthe said lever and engaged by a slot over the end of a stud 26 on theother side of said lever and locked thereto by a pin 27, so that in casethe switch is thrown by a running train the lever will be violentlythrown up against the cast-iron bar and break it, and1 thereby allow theswitch to be moved the same as if the lever were :not locked.

In the drawings the switch is shown set for the main track, and a trainmoving on the siding-track will, by the flanges of one of the wheels ofthe locomotive, shift the horseshoelever to the position seen in dottedlines, and by means of the lever and its chain and pulley connectionswith the crank-shaft simultaneously move the switch into connection withthe side-track rails, as shown by dotted lines, and allow the train topass in safety to the main track.

lVhen the switch is set for the side track, the train moving on the maintrack will operate to shift the switch to the main track and allow thetrain to pass in safety.

Then the switch is shifted as described, it is held secure by theposition of its crank and hand lever connection. The switchstand isplaced on the right-hand of the track and may have the usual target forindicating to the engineer that the switch is set for the side track.

It will be understood that a train passing to the switch on either trackwill cause the breaking of the cast-iron locking-bar in the event of itsbeing placed over the locking-lever. For this purpose this locking-baris placed a sufficient distance above the lever to cause the latter tostrike the bar with a blow, and it will be understood that such blowwill be caused by the lever, chain, and pulley Connections with thehand-lever shaftand with the horseshoe-lever, whereby the shiftingaction of the latter through its connected lever TOO IIO

will revolve the pulley suddenly and with great force throw up thehand-lever and break the locking-bar and allow the switch to be moved,so that While this lock serves the usual purpose of locking the switchit also `serves the important purpose of permitting the latter to beshifted when locked under circumstances that would otherwise endangerthe safety of the train.

I have stated that a train passing tothe switch on either track willcause the breaking of the cast-iron locking-bar in the event of itsbeing placed over the locking-lever, and for this purpose I have shownin Fig. l such locking-bar on both sides of the crank-shaft, the innerbar being shown turned back out of the way of the lever. To give theproper throw to the lever and the force to break the bar, I make thestuds about six inches high.

Without limiting myself to the precise construction of parts, I claiml.In an automatically-operated railroadswitch, the combination of thehorseshoe-lever and its connected lever with the switch and means forconnecting them, consisting of the crank-shaft, the connecting-rod, thesprocket-pulleys, andthe chain and rods connecting said pulleys andcrank-shaft with the said lever, for the purpose stated.

2. The combination, with the Switch,of the horseshoe-lever, the leverpivoted thereto, the crank-shaft, the connecting-rod, thesprocketpulleys, the rods and chains connecting them, and a lockingdevice consisting of the lever and a cast-iron locking-bar, for thepurpose stated.

3. In an automatically-operated railroadswitch, the horseshoeleverpivotally connected in the line of junction of the switch and the fixedrails and arranged with its Inovable ends standing away from the switch,1n combination with the intermediate lever and its connecting-rods andchains, the sprocketpulleys for said rods and chains, and theswitch-connecting crank-shaft and connecting-rod,'arranged to operate asstated.

, 4. In a railroad-switch, the horseshoe-lever having a bearing-disk andsocket-seat therefor bolted together, in combination with theintermediate lever, the chains, their adgustable connecting-rods, thesprocket-pulleys, and the crank-shaft and connecting-rod connecting theswitch, for the purpose stated.

5. In an automatically-operated switch for railroads, the combination ofthe switch and devices for automatically shifting it by means of themoving train, consisting of a shaft having a crank connected to saidswitch and a pulley connection to its operating devices and having ahand-lever 22, with a cast-iron locking-bar for said hand-lever,crossing the path ofmovement of the latter a sufficient distance aboveit to give said bar a sudden forcible blow, for the purpose stated.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY FISHER..

Witnesses:

G. H. HOLDEN, CLYDE W. STILsoN.

